The present invention relates to an integrated memory with a configuration of non-volatile memory cells and to a method for fabricating and for operating the integrated memory.
Non-volatile memories are used in many systems with discrete memory modules, the selection of the memory modules used depend on the specific requirements of the respective system. Usually, use is made both of modules containing a memory with fast reading and writing times, e.g. static random access memory (SRAM), and of more cost-effective modules with slower access but a higher integration density of the memory elements, e.g. flash memory.
In addition to other architectures of non-volatile memory, for instance ferroelectric memory (FeRAM), ferromagnetic memories (MRAM) have also been proposed for use in discrete modules, the storage in cells being achieved with the aid of the magnetoresistive effect. This exploits the fact that the electrical resistance of two ferromagnetic layers depends on the mutual orientation of a magnetic polarization of the layers. Thus, a state xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d may correspond to the electrical resistance with a parallel direction of polarization, and the state xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d can correspond to the electrical resistance with an antiparallel direction of polarization. However, the difference in the electrical resistance between the two possible orientations amounts to only 15% for giant magnetoresistive effect (GMR) elements through to 50% for tunneling magnetoresistive effect (TMR) elements.
The elements which contain two ferromagnetic layers and are isolated by a dielectric layer are fitted at the points of intersection of the mutually crossing bit lines and word or write lines, so that there is an electrical connection from the bit line via the GMR or TMR resistance to the word line. By measuring the current via the active bit line and word line, respectively, with the aid of sense amplifiers, it is possible to determine the electrical resistance and thus to determine the mutual orientation of the magnetic polarization of the ferromagnetic layers.
Depending on the embodiment of an MRAM cell, it is possible, by an additional write line which is parallel to the word line and is insulated from the ferromagnetic element or by a write line which is identical to the word line, to generate, using bit and write lines that are connected to carry current, by superposition at their crossover point, such a large magnetic field that it becomes possible to effect a rotation encompassing 180 degrees of the magnetic direction of polarization of a first variable ferromagnetic layer relative to the second ferromagnetic layer, whose magnetic orientation is fixed. If a network of bit lines which run parallel and word or write lines which run transversely with respect thereto is used analogously to the structure of conventional dynamic memories (i.e. dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), then addressing of the memory cells for reading and writing is made possible with the aid of corresponding column and row drivers.
There are essentially two possibilities for the construction of memory cells with a magneto-resistive effect. A first embodiment is disclosed e.g. by Durlam et al., titled xe2x80x9cNonvolatile RAM based on Magnetic Tunnel Junction Elementsxe2x80x9d, given at International Solid State Circuits Conference, IEEE, 2000, pages 130 to 131, in which case, by using a selection transistor in the memory cell, a current path from the bit line via the ferromagnetic memory element to the earth potential can be activated by the word line. For the write operation, the transistor is turned off by the word line, while a current flows through the write line. The architecture affords the advantage of a very fast access time of a few nanoseconds but cannot make use of the possibilities of very small dimensioning as a result of the ferromagnetic element, since the area occupied is determined by the significantly larger selection transistor and, as in the conventional dynamic memory (DRAM), turns out to be 8F2 where F is the minimum feature size on the substrate.
By contrast, International Publication No. WO 99/14760 A1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,190 B1, discloses an architecture of a ferromagnetic memory in which the memory element with a magnetoresistive effect is connected directly between the bit line and word line, in which case the current on the selected bit line can be evaluated by a sense amplifier without using a selection transistor. Parasitic current paths can occur, caused by a comparatively high internal resistance of the word or bit lines relative to the resistance of the memory cell with a magnetoresistive effect. Moreover, the current intensities to be measured differ only by 10 to 30% for the two states of the memory cell, so that the resistances of the ferromagnetic elements must be given very high values from the outset. Since a selection transistor is avoided in this architecture, a high integration density of the memory cells can therefore be achieved with a cell area of 4 F2.
However, this advantage must be weighed against the disadvantage of a long access time of 0.5-1 xcexcs.
By assembling discrete modules containing memory cells with a magnetoresistive effect, it is possible, as in the case of electrical storage, to construct memory modules which satisfy the respective system requirements, e.g. by using both memory with a fast access time and memory with a high integration density in two discrete modules. However, the inherent disadvantages of the individual modules are also transferred to the overall system, and at the same time lead disadvantageously to considerably higher fabrication costs.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an integrated memory with a configuration of non-volatile memory cells and a method for fabricating and for operating the integrated memory that overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices and methods of this general type, which has low costs for the fabrication thereof and, at the same time, enables a high integration density with fast reading and writing times.
The object is achieved by an integrated memory with a configuration of non-volatile memory cells. The memory cells include at least a first and a second memory cell with a magnetoresistive effect, which are disposed at crossover points in each case between bit lines and word lines running transversely with respect thereto. The first memory cell with a magnetoresistive effect contains a transistor which can be driven by the word line and which forms, for an access to the first memory cell with a magnetoresistive effect, with the bit line and a first memory element, a current path to a supply or earth potential. A second memory element of the second memory cell with a magnetoresistive effect is connected between a respective bit line and a respective word line.
According to the present invention, the advantageous configuration of a non-volatile memory with a fast access time and a high integration density is realized within a discrete memory module. Through a combination of elements in the integrated memory, namely the memory cells with a magnetoresistive effect with transistor and the memory cells with a magnetoresistive effect that are connected e.g. directly between the bit line and the word line, it is possible, depending on system requirements, to create flexible, fast and inexpensive memory modules which, by virtue of the integration on a discrete module, have considerably lower fabrication costs.
The two architectures used for memory cells with a magnetoresistive effect are preferably in each case equipped with dedicated sets of word and bit lines. To that end, it is then also necessary to provide corresponding sets of drivers for the memory cell arrays thus produced and also a corresponding logic for the addressing. On the other hand, a common configuration within a memory cell array is also possible. While the memory cell arrays with a magnetoresistive effect with selection transistors are generally linked to the monocrystalline silicon substrate, other embodiments of the relative configuration can also be taken into account for the memory cells that are directly connected between the bit line and word line. Moreover, an even more effective integration density can be achieved by space-saving association to other components on the memory module or on a logic module with an associated memory.
A further advantageous configuration of the present invention achieves a stacking of the memory cell arrays, which are composed of the memory cells with a magnetoresistive effect with the transistor in the bottommost, substrate-side plane and of the memory cells with memory elements connected between the bit line and word line in the planes that follow above the former plane, from the substrate plane into higher layers. This achieves a maximum number of memory cells per substrate base area, the stacking depth depending only on the driver logic and its inevitably increasing distance from the respective memory cell array. On the other hand, it is also the case that, with an increasing stacking depth, the proportion of fast memory containing memory cells with a magnetoresistive effect with transistors becomes smaller and smaller, so that higher integration densities, faster access and lower fabrication costs are advantageously achieved with a balanced combination containing proportions of both memory types.
In a further configuration of the invention, a combination of memory cells with GMR elements and with TMR elements is also considered. This embodiment enables a further grading of performance and costs within the memory.
In a further configuration of the present invention, the targeted breakdown of the dielectric barrier layer in the TMR element is considered, the barrier layer having a thickness of just a few nanometers. This is achieved by applying a high voltage to the relevant cells, after which the direction of polarization of the freely adjustable ferromagnetic layer is coupled to that of the fixed ferromagnetic layer and is thus likewise fixed. The state of the polarization orientation of the memory cell with a magnetoresistive effect thus permanently corresponds to that at which the breakdown was carried out. This makes it possible to realize a powerful fixedly preprogrammed read-only memory (ROM).
A further configuration of the present invention constitutes the memory cell with a diode. The latter may be provided in particular for the case where the memory cell is not controlled by a transistor. In this case, the diode is connected in series with the memory element between the word line and bit line. This enables a method that makes it possible to prevent parasitic currents by a suitable voltage distribution over the word and bit lines of the memory cells.
In this method, which is used for reading from a memory cell with a magnetoresistive effect with the diode, of all the word lines of the memory cell array, that word line which traverses the memory cell to be read is operated with a higher voltage, while all the other word lines are operated with a lower, second voltage. As in the conventional case, although the bit line of the memory call to be read is operated with the second, lower voltage, all the other bit lines are controlled with the first, higher voltage operated like that for the word line of the memory cell to be read. As a result, a voltage gradient is present only between the word line and the bit line of the memory cell to be read. For all the other memory cells, either identical voltages or voltage slopes are present. In this case, the diodes in the memory cells prevent opposite currents from flowing. This effectively prevents parasitic current paths. As a result, the resistances of the memory elements can be given lower values and the access speeds can advantageously be increased.
A further advantageous configuration of the present invention relates to the common assignment of bit or word lines to memory cells from memory cell arrays lying one above the other. In this case, no insulating layers are situated between the memory cells or memory cell arrays lying one above the other, rather the lines of the lower memory cell array which lie at the top are used in a reverse configuration as line of the same type from the overlying layer of memory cells. Although this only enables an alternate access to the respective memory cell arrays and, consequently, does not increase the memory access rate overall, the number of process steps for fabricating the memory cell arrays, in particular the number of lithography steps, can nonetheless be considerably reduced. This results in a considerable saving of fabrication costs and an even higher integration density.
The advantage of combining the two types of memory cells with a magnetoresistive effect in exactly one integrated memory becomes particularly clear in the method for fabricating the configuration. Specifically, the stacking from the bottommost memory cell layer on the substrate through to the topmost memory cell layer containing memory cells which are connected between word and bit lines can be produced in one process sequence. The method includes the steps of providing a substrate, forming a first memory cell having a transistor and a magnetoresistive effect on the substrate using a CMOS process, producing an insulating layer subsequently above the first memory cell, and forming a second memory cell with a magnetoresistive effect on the insulating layer.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an integrated memory with a configuration of non-volatile memory cells and a method for fabricating and for operating the integrated memory, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.